Hey guys, I'm back from the "Occupy Atlanta Demonstration"! Here are the "highlights".
The "demonstration" started at 6pm in Woodruff Park, which is downtown near the GSU campus and within walking distance of the State Capitol building. It is also near the main mass transit station and so I rode mass transit.
I arrived about 10 minutes into the "demonstration" and there was a crowd of between 700 and 800 people there. They were in a large circle and the "moderator" was explaining the rules. Great, I thought, I haven't missed anything. As it turns out the moderator explained the basic rules for discussion, introduced the agenda, and then went over the minutes of the last meeting, where various organizational groups had been formed, and then went over the rules again. The group was large enough that those in the back had trouble hearing what was being said, even though the moderator had a megaphone, and so the moderator decided to use "The People's Mike", which is to speak in single sentences and then have the crowd repeat what was said. This was effective but it is tedious and it makes a short discussion into a long one.
The group is loosely organized and is intended to be a purely democratic organization, which means that they vote on everything, and I mean everything, including the basic form of discussion, rules of decorum, etc. A simple majority is not sufficient to carry any idea or proposal, instead a consensus is necessary and by consensus they mean either a unanimous vote, or a few dissenters who agree not to block the will of the majority. This means that any individual has an absolute veto power if he chooses to exercise it. I think that most people older than 10 can see that this is a major weakness of this organization. It would only take one infilitrator in the group to completely shut down the whole thing. This problem actually reared its head later in the "demonstration".
After a half hour, the rules and the agenda were still being read out, this was the third or fourth time, and I was getting rather bored. Then the proceedings were interupted by an announcement that a special guest was present and that he would like the opportunity to address the group. The special guest turned out to be Congressman John Lewis who, I am guessing, wanted to take advantage of a park full of potential voters and fellow travelers. Since this was a truly democratic proceeding the motion was put to a vote on whether to suspend the normal agenda and allow the Congressman to speak. Well that turned out to be a problem. The motion was put out and about 2/3 of the crowd wanted to hear him speak, a little less than a third thought that he should wait until the open forum and then wait his turn, and a handfull did not want to hear him at all. The crowd debated this for about 15 minutes and the Congressman had been there for about 25 minutes at this point. When it became obvious that a concensus could not be reached, he and his entourage of about 20 people left. Shortly after that about a third of the crowd also left, due to the fact that they wanted to hear the Congressman. I could not believe it! I have been to many demonstrations in Atlanta and a VIP like a Congressman is almost always accomodated.
I stuck around for another hour and the various committee chairpersons spoke about their groups and what they were doing. The only interesting thing here was the "Demands Committee" (their words not mine) and they put up a tentative list of demands which I will post separately.
I spent 2 hours there and there was no actual demonstration at all, just a lot of hot air and talking everyone and everything to death. I have decided that if the objective of the "Occupy Atlanta" folks was to get 800 people downtown and then bore them to death, then it was a great success. It was dark by the time that I left and about half of the crowd was left but it was starting to break up pretty fast. I think that the whole thing was a flop and another meeting or two like this one will be the death of this group.
OK, here are the "Occupy Atlanta" list of demands. Please note that these demands are tentative because the whole body has not yet voted on them. The group was pretty receptive to these though and so I am sure that they will pass in some similar form. One self-declared Marxist in the group wanted to add a couple and he was refered to the "Demands Committee". This is copied directly from a paper handout from the "Demands Committee".
Declaration of Occupation Atlanta
"Proposed by the Demands Committee to the General Assembly on October 7, 2011.
Preamble: We hold this truth to be self-evident, that the 99% deserve equal rights, equal protections, equal access, and equal opportunity as the 1% who benefit disproportionately from the current system. We therefore freely assemble to assert our rights and demands.
1. We demand greater democratic control in all spheres of life, from the home to the government, from the economy to the workplace. It is a moral, logical, and political imperative that people should be in control of their own lives to the greatest extent possible.
2. We deserve an economic system that meets human needs, reduces economic inequality, shrinks the income gap, and doesn't reward decisions that have a negative impact on society.
3. We recognize that the market will not regulate itself. What is good for profit is not always good for people or the environment.
4. We assert the right of every human being to adequate shelter, food, clothing, hygiene, and other basic necessities.
5. We assert the right of every individual to adequate protection from the economic uncertainties of old age, accident, unemployment, and other hardship.
6. We denounce all predatory lending and fraudulent banking practices and demand accountability.
7. We recognize that no society should allocate more resources to warfare than to the public good.
8. We demand a more democratic, publicly representative, and accountable media.
9. We insist that the internet is a basic human right and as such should remain absolutely free and neutral.
10. We assert our right to public spaces and our right to freely inhabit them because they are essential to democracy and our right to assemble.
11. We denounce a criminal justice and for-profit prison system that relies on mass incarceration, especially when it reinforces the marginalization and disenfranchisement of people.
We are the people. We are not Republican, Democrat, or any other party. We occupy because no party represents the 99%. We are not affiliated with any union or organization. Our movement does not align with organizations. Organizations align with our movement.
The "demonstration" started at 6pm in Woodruff Park, which is downtown near the GSU campus and within walking distance of the State Capitol building. It is also near the main mass transit station and so I rode mass transit.
I arrived about 10 minutes into the "demonstration" and there was a crowd of between 700 and 800 people there. They were in a large circle and the "moderator" was explaining the rules. Great, I thought, I haven't missed anything. As it turns out the moderator explained the basic rules for discussion, introduced the agenda, and then went over the minutes of the last meeting, where various organizational groups had been formed, and then went over the rules again. The group was large enough that those in the back had trouble hearing what was being said, even though the moderator had a megaphone, and so the moderator decided to use "The People's Mike", which is to speak in single sentences and then have the crowd repeat what was said. This was effective but it is tedious and it makes a short discussion into a long one.
The group is loosely organized and is intended to be a purely democratic organization, which means that they vote on everything, and I mean everything, including the basic form of discussion, rules of decorum, etc. A simple majority is not sufficient to carry any idea or proposal, instead a consensus is necessary and by consensus they mean either a unanimous vote, or a few dissenters who agree not to block the will of the majority. This means that any individual has an absolute veto power if he chooses to exercise it. I think that most people older than 10 can see that this is a major weakness of this organization. It would only take one infilitrator in the group to completely shut down the whole thing. This problem actually reared its head later in the "demonstration".
After a half hour, the rules and the agenda were still being read out, this was the third or fourth time, and I was getting rather bored. Then the proceedings were interupted by an announcement that a special guest was present and that he would like the opportunity to address the group. The special guest turned out to be Congressman John Lewis who, I am guessing, wanted to take advantage of a park full of potential voters and fellow travelers. Since this was a truly democratic proceeding the motion was put to a vote on whether to suspend the normal agenda and allow the Congressman to speak. Well that turned out to be a problem. The motion was put out and about 2/3 of the crowd wanted to hear him speak, a little less than a third thought that he should wait until the open forum and then wait his turn, and a handfull did not want to hear him at all. The crowd debated this for about 15 minutes and the Congressman had been there for about 25 minutes at this point. When it became obvious that a concensus could not be reached, he and his entourage of about 20 people left. Shortly after that about a third of the crowd also left, due to the fact that they wanted to hear the Congressman. I could not believe it! I have been to many demonstrations in Atlanta and a VIP like a Congressman is almost always accomodated.
I stuck around for another hour and the various committee chairpersons spoke about their groups and what they were doing. The only interesting thing here was the "Demands Committee" (their words not mine) and they put up a tentative list of demands which I will post separately.
I spent 2 hours there and there was no actual demonstration at all, just a lot of hot air and talking everyone and everything to death. I have decided that if the objective of the "Occupy Atlanta" folks was to get 800 people downtown and then bore them to death, then it was a great success. It was dark by the time that I left and about half of the crowd was left but it was starting to break up pretty fast. I think that the whole thing was a flop and another meeting or two like this one will be the death of this group.
OK, here are the "Occupy Atlanta" list of demands. Please note that these demands are tentative because the whole body has not yet voted on them. The group was pretty receptive to these though and so I am sure that they will pass in some similar form. One self-declared Marxist in the group wanted to add a couple and he was refered to the "Demands Committee". This is copied directly from a paper handout from the "Demands Committee".
Declaration of Occupation Atlanta
"Proposed by the Demands Committee to the General Assembly on October 7, 2011.
Preamble: We hold this truth to be self-evident, that the 99% deserve equal rights, equal protections, equal access, and equal opportunity as the 1% who benefit disproportionately from the current system. We therefore freely assemble to assert our rights and demands.
1. We demand greater democratic control in all spheres of life, from the home to the government, from the economy to the workplace. It is a moral, logical, and political imperative that people should be in control of their own lives to the greatest extent possible.
2. We deserve an economic system that meets human needs, reduces economic inequality, shrinks the income gap, and doesn't reward decisions that have a negative impact on society.
3. We recognize that the market will not regulate itself. What is good for profit is not always good for people or the environment.
4. We assert the right of every human being to adequate shelter, food, clothing, hygiene, and other basic necessities.
5. We assert the right of every individual to adequate protection from the economic uncertainties of old age, accident, unemployment, and other hardship.
6. We denounce all predatory lending and fraudulent banking practices and demand accountability.
7. We recognize that no society should allocate more resources to warfare than to the public good.
8. We demand a more democratic, publicly representative, and accountable media.
9. We insist that the internet is a basic human right and as such should remain absolutely free and neutral.
10. We assert our right to public spaces and our right to freely inhabit them because they are essential to democracy and our right to assemble.
11. We denounce a criminal justice and for-profit prison system that relies on mass incarceration, especially when it reinforces the marginalization and disenfranchisement of people.
We are the people. We are not Republican, Democrat, or any other party. We occupy because no party represents the 99%. We are not affiliated with any union or organization. Our movement does not align with organizations. Organizations align with our movement.
Reporting Edward Lawson
Sophie: Thanks, Edward.
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